Foran High to name field for the late Ken Walker

The first three years of David Esposito’s baseball career at Foran weren’t marked by very many victories

That, however, changed in the spring of 1986 when the Lions appointed Ken Walker head coach and they subsequently qualified for the state tournament.

“We weren’t very good, we hadn’t been for a while,” said Esposito, who was Walker’s first captain and is now a cardiovascular surgeon based out of Milford Hospital. “After the season was over, at the all-sports banquet, I had to say a few words and I said, `I guarantee as long as coach Walker is the coach, we’ll always make the state tournament.’”

Walker responded to his captain’s proclamation in his typical fashion.

Pressure or not, during Walker’s tenure in the Lions’ dugout, first from 1986-2003 and then from 2011-12, Foran always made the state tournament.

On Wednesday, Foran will honor Walker, who passed away at the age of 60 last June 29, by naming the school’s baseball field in his honor before it takes on city rival Law at 4 p.m. The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 3:15.